In Hawaii, Abercrombie wants voters to know he’s the only pro-equality candidate

The Governor of Hawaii who vetoed the civil unions bill, Linda Lingle, is term-limited. In the race for Governor, there are two Democrats vying for the Democratic nomination. Only one of them is on the side of equality:

Former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie is sending the message to gay activists that they could have to wait four years or longer for civil unions if he is not elected governor.

Abercrombie supports a civil unions bill vetoed by Gov. Linda Lingle that would have given same-sex and heterosexual couples the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as marriage under state law. Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, his opponent in the September primary, opposes civil unions. Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona, the leading Republican candidate, is also against civil unions.

“It’s quite clear that the other two candidates have no intention of moving forward on civil unions legislation,” Abercrombie said last week.

The Democratic primary is on September 18, 2010. Abercrombie has to win. His website is here.

Joe Sudbay
On October 27, 2010, Joe was one of five bloggers who interviewed President Obama. Joe is a DC-based political consultant with over twenty-five years of experience at both the state and federal level. Joe has managed political operations and legislative efforts for both candidates and issues-based organizations. For seven years, he was the Director of State Legislation at Handgun Control, Inc. He served as that organization's first Political Director during the 2000 cycle. Joe is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law. In addition, he has a Masters in Public Administration from Lehigh University and received his B.A. from the University of New Hampshire. Joe also has a fun dog, Petey, a worthy successor to Boomer, who got Joe through eight years of Bush and Cheney. Joe likes to think he is a world class athlete having finished the 2005 Chicago Marathon in the time of 4:10. He has completed six other marathons as well -- and is still determined to break the four hour mark.